Hot-starting Islanders hold off Hurricanes

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The New York Islanders played plenty of wild games that didn't turn out well for them, so they relished Tuesday night's result.

Right winger Colin McDonald scored two of the Islanders' four goals in the first 11 minutes, and New York held on for a 5-4 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena.

"Kind of a crazy game, and we've had a couple of those," McDonald said. "A lot of ups and downs, and we've had a little bit of everything."

Offense was free flowing at times in the matchup between the two bottom teams in the Metropolitan Division.

The Islanders (28-35-9) scored the first four goals before holding on.

"You go up with a 4-0 lead, you shouldn't let it go away," said New York goalie Anders Nilsson, who needed to stop only six third-period shots. "I knew they were going to come. We were able to bounce back, and that was the important thing."

Left winger Matt Martin also had two goals, and right winger Cal Clutterbuck added a goal for the Islanders, who are 13-4-1 in their past 18 road games.

"We've got some young players on our team right now, and we are trying to stay the course and play the structure, continue to teach and work hard," Islanders coach Jack Capuano said.

Left winger Jeff Skinner, center Andrei Loktionov, right winger Alexander Semin and center Nathan Gerbe scored for Carolina, which won the previous three meetings with the Islanders this season.

Carolina (31-32-9) went on a power play with 4:48 remaining, but it was unable to secure a season-high third power-play goal that would have tied the score.

"Tough start," Skinner said. "A couple of weird bounces, and it seemed to snowball. After that happened, we played well to get back in the game."

Nilsson made 24 saves for the Islanders, who won for the third time in four games.

McDonald, who also posted an assist on Martin's second goal, had his first multi-point game of the season and the first three-point game of his two-year career.

"We're still learning how to play with the lead," McDonald said.

McDonald's first goal came 3:39 into the game. Less than two minutes later, Clutterbuck converted off a rebound.

Carolina used its timeout after the second goal. When McDonald made it three New York goals in 2:33 span, Anton Khudobin replaced Cam Ward in the Carolina net.

"I thought we went to the net hard," Capuano said. "I don't think the goalie could have done much. We shot pucks, went to the net and capitalized."

The Islanders put the first 10 shots on goal in the game. It took more than nine minutes before the Hurricanes registered a shot.

"It's something we talked about and addressed," Carolina coach Kirk Muller said. "You can't come out and spot a team a four-goal lead. It's a mystery why we come out so hesitant."

The Islanders cracked Khudobin right away, with Martin making it 4-0 just 10:54 into the game.

"If we knew the answer, we'd probably fix it by now," Skinner said of the sluggish starts. "It's not easy to play the game if you're constantly playing from behind."

Skinner's power-play goal put the Hurricanes on the board at 12:38 of the first period. Loktionov scored less than three minutes later.

Semin's power-play goal closed the gap to 4-3 at 2:42 of the second period.

Martin scored again for the Islanders late in the second period, but Gerbe responded for Carolina 22 seconds later with a tough-angle shot.

New York's four first-period goals matched the most allowed in any period by Carolina this season.

The outcome snapped the Islanders' six-game losing streak against Carolina.

Ward stopped six of the nine shots he faces, while Khudobin finished with 21 saves. Nilsson recorded 24 saves.

NOTES: Playing in his 100th career NHL game, Hurricanes C Riley Nash won a career-high 13 faceoffs. ... Carolina played for the first time since D Justin Faulk agreed to a six-year, $29 million contract extension. ... When Islanders RW Colin McDonald scored two goals in the first period on Tuesday night, it meant that his last seven goals came in road games. He has eight goals total this season. ... The Hurricanes sent D Ryan Murphy back to AHL Charlotte. He played 46 NHL games this season. ... The Islanders visit the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night before three of their next four games are at home. ... The Hurricanes play the Panthers in Florida on Thursday night.